Barclays launches natural resources ETF

Barclays Global Investors has launched a new exchange–traded fund (ETF) that tracks an index made up of US companies in the natural resources sector. The product lets investors gain exposure to the natural resources sector using a single security.

The fund tracks the Goldman Sachs Natural Resources index, a weighted index of 112 stocks from the energy, precious metals and timber sectors. The ETF will be traded on the American Stock Exchange.

Lee Kranefuss, the San Francisco-based chief executive of Barclays Global Investors' exchange–traded funds business, said the fund provides investors with broad diversification in the sector “in a cost-effective manner”.

ETFs are cash instruments that track an index or replicate the performance of a basket of stocks. They are traded on an exchange like a regular share.

Sandy Rattray, vice-president of derivatives and trading research at Goldman Sachs in New York, commented: “By tracking this objective index, the fund will provide investors with the exposure they desire to this important sector.”